Well, time for my post-mortem.
I was also in the building last night. It was mostly PSU fans, obviously, but there was a good number of Maine fans too. I was chatting with a kid next to me about my age who was a Penn State alum, very friendly, and he commented he was surprised of how many of us there were. That said, I really don't buy the excuse that the reason they lost was because it was a road game. The rule is not new, and it just happened to work against us this year. Denver overcame it last year in Springfield, and the last time PSU played in Allentown as the host, it was also against Denver and also had a 5-1 final score; only difference was Denver was the winner. Maine lost because they were slow compared to the Lions and couldn't pass the puck for their life; so many passes that just missed sticks or were fumbled away. I said last night how I really thought this year would be different, and I said that because I thought that last year they were just young and inexperienced, and played against a veteran Cornell team and it showed. I thought that this year they had shown the resilience and grit needed to go far, and I thought when they won at the Garden it showed that they had learned to win in the big moments. But instead last night they looked timid and got the game taken to them.
Looking ahead to next year, they need scoring and they need it badly. They're set to lose a minimum of five forwards to graduation, including all their top three centers. Who knows about any early departures. I think Gerrior, James, and Peluso can be solid players (provided James can recover well from whatever major injury has kept him out all year), but none of them are game-breakers. I hope their have either some portal targets in mind, or that they have some CHL guys in line who haven't announced their commitment yet as to not be a distraction to the current team. Aside from forward, I have little to no concerns about the D or G situation. Defense was already solid this year, loses only Breazeale for sure to graduation, and is set to bring in at least two really good looking guys in Userau and Langlois, and possibly a third with Peterson as well. And in goal, Boija will probably stick around, and even if he dosen't I think Berzins will be a good collegiate goalie of his own, along with Shea and the other Latvian goalie in the pipeline. The staff still has my full confidence in getting the roster ready to go next year and continuing the success we've seen the last two years.
In summary, really tough way to end the year, they need to make moves up front, but the defense and goaltending should still be strengths and I have complete faith in the coaches.
I was also in the building last night. It was mostly PSU fans, obviously, but there was a good number of Maine fans too. I was chatting with a kid next to me about my age who was a Penn State alum, very friendly, and he commented he was surprised of how many of us there were. That said, I really don't buy the excuse that the reason they lost was because it was a road game. The rule is not new, and it just happened to work against us this year. Denver overcame it last year in Springfield, and the last time PSU played in Allentown as the host, it was also against Denver and also had a 5-1 final score; only difference was Denver was the winner. Maine lost because they were slow compared to the Lions and couldn't pass the puck for their life; so many passes that just missed sticks or were fumbled away. I said last night how I really thought this year would be different, and I said that because I thought that last year they were just young and inexperienced, and played against a veteran Cornell team and it showed. I thought that this year they had shown the resilience and grit needed to go far, and I thought when they won at the Garden it showed that they had learned to win in the big moments. But instead last night they looked timid and got the game taken to them.
Looking ahead to next year, they need scoring and they need it badly. They're set to lose a minimum of five forwards to graduation, including all their top three centers. Who knows about any early departures. I think Gerrior, James, and Peluso can be solid players (provided James can recover well from whatever major injury has kept him out all year), but none of them are game-breakers. I hope their have either some portal targets in mind, or that they have some CHL guys in line who haven't announced their commitment yet as to not be a distraction to the current team. Aside from forward, I have little to no concerns about the D or G situation. Defense was already solid this year, loses only Breazeale for sure to graduation, and is set to bring in at least two really good looking guys in Userau and Langlois, and possibly a third with Peterson as well. And in goal, Boija will probably stick around, and even if he dosen't I think Berzins will be a good collegiate goalie of his own, along with Shea and the other Latvian goalie in the pipeline. The staff still has my full confidence in getting the roster ready to go next year and continuing the success we've seen the last two years.
In summary, really tough way to end the year, they need to make moves up front, but the defense and goaltending should still be strengths and I have complete faith in the coaches.
